Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,
Firstly, I would like to wish you and all of our communities a Happy New Year.
2024 will be an important year for Wiltshire Police as we continue to make significant and sustainable improvements to the service we deliver. This starts with us launching our new operating model for frontline resources on Monday (January 8) which includes the re-establishment of dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) to improve the visibility and engagement with all our communities.
In addition, our new model will also see;
• An increase in resources in our NPTs
• Better alignment of policing resources to meet our demand (including the introduction of a new Response shift pattern)
• An increase in our proactive capability to tackle community concerns
• The launch of our Community Commitments – ensuring consistency of high policing standards across the county
• New neighbourhood engagement vehicles out and about in our communities.
Our communities can find out much more about the changes and how they will affect their local service, by visiting this page on our website.
I will also be taking part in a Facebook Live broadcast on Monday 22 January between 6.30pm-7.30pm where I can answer any questions our communities have about these exciting changes.
The festive period was a particularly busy time for us, and I would like to share some clear examples of our commitment to Keeping Wiltshire Safe;
• Our Christmas Drink and Drug Drive campaign saw a total of 108 drivers investigated for offences, of which 94 were arrested. These arrests resulted from officers proactively stopping vehicles after observing poor driving, reports from members of the public or drivers involved in minor collisions
• Our Wanted this Winter campaign – which involved us sharing photos of wanted suspects – saw 22 arrests across December as a direct result of the incredible support from our communities who provided us with information as to the suspects’ whereabouts
• Three teenagers were arrested following an aggravated burglary in Fisherton De La Mere near Warminster – the suspects threatened the occupants of the property with air weapons and stole their car before being located by officers in Salisbury. The driver failed to stop for officers and crashed the vehicle. All were arrested and charged with offences including aggravated burglary, drug driving and possession of cannabis
• An illegal rave at Coombe, near Netheravon, on New Year’s Eve which saw approximately 200 people and 100 vehicles in attendance was dealt with appropriately by our officers with all revellers leaving the site.
On Tuesday evening, a fatal road traffic collision occurred on the A419 in Swindon. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the teenager who died and, as per our public updates earlier in the week, we referred ourselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who have determined that they will independently investigate the circumstances surrounding it. We will, of course, offer them all the support and assistance they require as their enquiries continue.
Keeping our communities fully informed of our activities is key to us rebuilding the trust and confidence they have in our service. To help assist with this, yesterday, I invited editors from local media publications to come and robustly challenge me on any issue they felt important to the public. They are a key stakeholder in terms of holding me – and the Force – to account and asking the questions that our communities want answered. This will be the first of several sessions I hold across the year.
Finally, next week I will be attending my third Policing Performance Oversight Group (PPOG) where I will update key partners on our improvement journey within our Engage status.
Whilst we remain on a significant improvement journey, I look forward to sharing a number of improvements with the PPOG including improved prosecutions over the last few months, quicker answer times on 999 and 101 calls and increased resources placed within our call centre and our Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
I will publish a full update of our activity, the outcomes we’ve achieved and the next steps on our improvement journey in the coming weeks.
Kindest regards to you,
Catherine Roper
Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police
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